Description

Andrew Martin reflects on Britains customs attitudes and social and supernatural phenomena in these six BBC Radio series

Drawn from Radio 3s The Essay strand and presented by journalist and awardwinning author Andrew Martin this beguiling collection brings together his witty Alan Bennettesque observations on Englands disappearing pastimes rituals and beliefs

Yorkshire sees him musing on the county of his birth and upbringing as he considers his Tyke identity and the ancient rivalry between Yorkshire and Lancashire chews over questions of class in Gods Own County ponders its past and future and recalls the coastal jaunts of his youth In Hanging On Martin celebrates five aspects of British life that are still with us just as he raises a toast to the boating pond the ventriloquists doll the telephone the milkman and sex shops

The Lost Hours memorialises the staging posts of the day that are gradually fading away such as elevenses and the cocktail hour while England Ejects explores the inclinations and habits that no longer seem so vital nowadays including modesty gentility and Sunday churchgoing The Further Realm sees Martin contemplating whether he believes in ghosts reflecting on mediaeval and modern sightings and telling tales of the undead from resonant times of the year Finally in The Sound and the Fury he discusses the noises that annoy us from piped music to public transport announcements asking how do we cope with jarring sounds in our world today and could we live without the daily cacophony

Quirky and engaging these delightfully entertaining essays will give you a whole new perspective on the modern world and the world beyond

Production credits
Produced by Duncan Minshull Yorkshire Hanging On England Ejects The Further Realm The Sound and the Fury and Karen Holden The Lost Hours

First broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on the following dates 2327 January 2012 The Sound and the Fury 2731 January 2014 England Ejects 2630 October 2015 The Further Realm 1721 April 2017 Hanging On 2125 January 2019 Yorkshire 2529 October 2021 The Lost Hours

2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd P 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd